Desire Me If You Can [Novel] - Chapter 7

Calm down. There’s no proof.
An Extreme Omega?
That’s a once-in-a-lifetime encounter.
Grayson knew two Extreme Omegas, luckily. One was Koi, who had given birth to him, and the other was Angel, who had given birth to his friend, Keith Pittman. But he merely knew of their existence, and they had nothing to do with his life whatsoever.
So out of the blue like this? Does that even make sense?
Lingering doubts surfaced, but his emotions betrayed his reason. His heart couldn’t be lying, beating this fiercely. He had always lived by suppressing his instincts with reason. The only exception was when he ‘felt he had found his destined partner.
Falling into the same delusion every time, regretting it later, he wavered again just like before. The one Grayson had been searching for so desperately might be that firefighter.
‘Fire.’
The fortune teller’s words came to his mind amidst his absurd belief. What he had scoffed as nonsense now felt like the only light illuminating his path. It wasn’t a guess anymore, it was a conviction. That man was the one. The way to confirm it was simple. He just had to meet him again.
But how?
Grayson moved his feet that had stopped for a moment and started to pace again.
Should I set fire to the house?
What if I set fire to this hospital right now?
How would I find him among the firefighters who would respond?
What if he’s off duty?
Unfortunately, his hazy memory offered no clues. He tried to recall the person he had glimpsed at the last moment. But the firefighter had been wearing a helmet and had approached from behind, so he didn’t know what he looked like. He seemed to have heard his voice, but he couldn’t recall what was said, or even the tone of the voice. He didn’t even know if it was a man or a woman.
No, it must be a woman.
The fortune teller had said she had large breasts.
But other than that, he had no clues. The voice had been a near whisper, so even if he heard it again, it would be difficult to recognize.
Should I keep setting fires until I find him?
Too inefficient.
Isn’t there a more effective way?
…That’s it.
He soon came up with a brilliant plan. Just a few hours later, Grayson headed east to meet his father, Ashley Miller.
***
The most likely next president. Former head of North America’s top law firm, a former lawyer, and current senator. The man who’s the captain of the ice hockey team in high school and a VIP. An Extreme Alpha over two meters tall, with breathtakingly gorgeous looks and platinum blond hair.
That was Ashley Miller.
A father of six, he looked at his second son standing across his desk with his usual impassive expression. Even after hearing Grayson’s words, his expression remained unchanged as he slowly spoke after a moment of silence.
“What did you say?”
His low voice was the same, but asking him to repeat himself was unusual. Grayson smiled brightly as he looked at his father.
“I want to become a firefighter. But since it’s not the recruitment period right now, I want to get in through special appointment. That’s why I’d like you to help me.”
He repeated what he’d said earlier, adding a little explanation. Ashley continued to stare at him blankly before moving his lips.
“What did you say?”
“I want to be a firefighter, Father. Since it’s not the recruitment period, I’d appreciate it if you could pull some strings to get me in through special appointment.”
Even though it was the third time he was repeating the same thing, and he should be understandably annoyed by now, Grayson still maintained his smile. Ashley stared intently at his son’s fabricated smile, one he’d seen countless times before. Silence hung in the air again before Ashley Miller, seemingly finally accepting reality, leaned back heavily in his chair.
“Your reason?”
“Helping people is a noble act.”
It was an answer that seemed to have been pulled out of a textbook, but of course it was not the answer Ashley wanted to hear. It wasn’t something his son would say. Grayson, as if anticipating Ashley’s cold reaction, added without missing a beat,
“Because my destined lover is at the fire station. I want to go and confirm it.”
“Ahh…”
Only then did Ashley narrow his eyes and let out a long sigh. A dismissive response, as if to say, “Figures.” But Grayson continued unfazed,
“Of course, there’s always the possibility that I’m wrong again. But you never know unless you try, right? You said I could do anything I wanted, as long as it wasn’t a crime. Helping people isn’t a crime.”
Ashley didn’t react to the smoothly delivered words, clearly prepared in advance. He stared at his son, who became unusually passionate whenever the word “destiny” was involved. Then, curling his lips into a crooked smile, he asked,
“You do know how many fire stations there are in the country, right?”
Grayson hesitated for a brief moment but quickly recovered his smile and replied,
“Of course, I checked.”
“With a fortune teller.”
“With tarot cards.”
Grayson skillfully deflected his Papa’s sarcasm, knowing full well it was meant as such. The reason he didn’t bother explaining, “A fire broke out at the pheromone party, and among the firefighters who came to extinguish it was an Extreme Omega who is my destiny, and I want to become a firefighter to find him,” was because he was certain that saying it aloud would only invite even greater ridicule.
For Ashley Miller, a nonsensical story like “I had my fortune read, and that’s what it said” would work better. The latter could be dismissed as his usual nonsense, but the former would raise suspicions that he had finally lost his mind due to pheromones. Thinking this, Grayson waited for Ashley’s response.
Ashley stared intently at his son’s smooth face, which strongly resembled his own, Dominique. He suppressed the instinctive wave of disgust that rose in him and tried to find any trace of his own partner in Grayson, but it was a futile effort, as always. Having repeated the same failure countless times, Ashley once again readily accepted reality.
“It’s good to be motivated.”
At his indifferent tone, Grayson’s eyes sparkled, and his ears twitched briefly. Only then did Ashley’s heart soften a little. He fixed his gaze on Grayson’s ears, which shared the same habit as his only Omega, and
continued,
“Alright, I’ll pull some strings. But on one condition.”
“Yes, anything.”
Grayson quickly replied without even hearing the condition. Ashley thought that this blind enthusiasm always led to trouble but didn’t bother warning him. Failure also offered valuable lessons in life.
“You have to stay for at least a year. Don’t quit.”
Once again, Grayson froze, stiffening. The silence stretched longer than before, for an obvious reason. He would surely want to quit immediately if he failed this time as well. Because he had to move on to the next target as quickly as possible.
No way.
Ashley watched his son delay his answer as he pondered, adding another point.
“Jackson complained to me. He said you messed up his precious twins.”
“It was self-defense. They tried to rape me.”
Grayson flinched at the name he had forgotten but quickly regained his composure, defending himself with a smile. Ashley’s eyes narrowed, and he spoke in an even more cynical tone than usual.
“Because you provoked them by releasing your pheromones first.”
Grayson tried to retort again, but Ashley cut him off before he could.
“He wants you to atone for your actions by doing public service. Your frivolous destiny-finding is your own business, but you must take responsibility for what you’ve done. Did you come to me begging for favors, asking me to bend the rules, without even that much resolve to find your so-called destiny?”
He deserved to hear those words. They were so undeniably true that he had no room for excuses. Grayson hesitated to answer, haunted by the ominous premonition that he might fail again. Hadn’t he repeated countless mistakes, trusting only his gut feeling? Who could guarantee that this time would be any different?
But what if this time, it’s real?